Name ______________________________ Class ___________________ Date __________________
Skills Worksheet
Directed Reading B (Lesson 6-1)
Section: Earth’s Story and Those Who First Listened
THE PRINCIPLE OF UNIFORMITARIANISM
Circle the letter of the best answer for each question.
1. Who outlined the principle now called uniformitarianism?
a. Albert Einstein
b. James Hurst
c. James Hutton
d. Charles Lyell
2. What does the principle of uniformitarianism state?
a. The geologic processes once at work are now changing.
b. The Earth changes only at certain times and only after certain events.
c. The Earth has always been as it is now.
d. The same geologic processes have been at work throughout Earth’s
history.
Uniformitarianism Versus Catastrophism
3. Which of the following ideas did Hutton’s theories suggest?
a. The Earth was not very old.
b. The Earth had experienced many catastrophes.
c. The Earth was much older than people thought.
d. The Earth never changed.
4. What does the principle of catastrophism state?
a. Geologic changes occur suddenly.
b. Geologic changes are predictable.
c. Geologic catastrophes are uniform.
d. Geologic changes occur slowly.
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Name ______________________________ Class ___________________ Date __________________
Directed Reading B continued
A Victory for Uniformitarianism
Circle the letter of the best answer for each question.
5. Who wrote Principles of Geology?
a. Albert Einstein
b. James Hutton
c. Charles Lyell
d. Charles Houston
6. Which principle did Principles of Geology support?
a. deposition
b. erosion
c. catastrophism
d. uniformitarianism
MODERN GEOLOGY—A HAPPY MEDIUM
7. What do modern-day scientists believe about geologic change?
a. It all happens very slowly.
b. It all happens suddenly.
c. Some happens gradually, and some happens suddenly.
d. Geologic change does not happen.
PALEONTOLOGY—THE STUDY OF PAST LIFE
Read the words in the box. Read the sentences. Fill in each blank with
the word or phrase that best completes the sentence.
fossils
paleontologists
8. Scientists who study past life are ________________________________.
9. The data these scientists use are ________________________________.
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The Rock and Fossil Record
Name ______________________________ Class ___________________ Date __________________
Skills Worksheet
Directed Reading B ( Lesson 6-2)
pp.156-159 only
Section: Relative Dating: Which Came First?
Circle the letter of the best answer for each question.
1. Which of the following is a method for determining the age of objects or
events in relation to other objects or events?
a. relative sequencing
b. relative dating
c. relative history
d. relative geology
THE PRINCIPLE OF SUPERPOSITION
2. What do scientists know about an undisturbed sequence of rock layers?
a. Older rocks lie above younger rocks.
b. Younger rocks lie under older rocks.
c. Younger rocks lie above older rocks.
d. Older rocks have eroded away.
3. What principle states that younger rocks lie above older rocks in an
undisturbed sequence?
a. relative dating
b. superposition
c. catastrophism
d. uniformitarianism
Disturbing Forces
4. Which of the following statements about rock sequences is NOT true?
a. Some rock sequences are disturbed by forces within Earth.
b. All rock sequences have the oldest layers on top.
c. Earth’s forces can push rocks into a sequence.
d. Some rock sequences can be upside down.
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The Rock and Fossil Record
Name ______________________________ Class ___________________ Date __________________
Directed Reading B continued
THE GEOLOGIC COLUMN
Circle the letter of the best answer for each question.
5. Which of the following is an ideal sequence of rock layers, arranged from
oldest to youngest?
a. the geologic time scale
b. an unconformity
c. the geologic column
d. the fossil record
6. How does the geologic column help geologists?
a. It helps them find water.
b. It helps them interpret rock sequences.
c. It tells them where to find undisturbed rock.
d. It helps them find fossils.
DISTURBED ROCK LAYERS
Events That Disturb Rock Layers
Read the description. Then, draw a line from the dot next to each
description to the matching word.
7. a break in the Earth’s crust along
which blocks of crust slide relative
to one another
8. rock layers bent and buckled by
Earth’s internal forces
9 molten rock that has squeezed into
existing rock and cooled
10. the slanting of rock layers by
Earth’s internal forces
•
•
•
•
a. folding
b. fault
c. tilting
d. intrusion
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The Rock and Fossil Record
Name ______________________________ Class ___________________ Date __________________
Directed Reading B continued
GAPS IN THE RECORD—UNCONFORMITIES
Missing Evidence
Read the words in the box. Read the sentences. Fill in each blank with
the word or phrase that best completes the sentence.
nondeposition
unconformity
erosion
11. A missing rock layer from a rock-layer sequence is called a(n)
______________________.
12. When sediment stops at some point, and then continues, an unconformity
is created by ______________________.
13. An unconformity is created when an area is uplifted and exposed to
______________________ by wind and water.
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The Rock and Fossil Record